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THE  CRISIS 


Trade  Unions  and  the  Courts 
The  Tyranny  of  Injunctions 
The     Power     of     Unity 


i 


BY 


ROBERT  HUNTER 

AUTHOR 

"POVERTY,"  "SOCIALISTS  AT  WORK,"  ETC. 


55 

UNITED  WE  STAND 
DIVIDED    WE    FALL 


SAMUEL  A.    BLOCH 

The  Bookman 

681  N.  OAKLEY  AVE. 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

1909 


Do  you  read  the  Chicago  DAILY  SOCIALIST  or  the  New  York 
EVENING  CALL?  They  are  powerful  and  earnest  advocates  of  the 
rights  of  all  who  labor.  They  fight  the  battles  of  the  Unions,  and  have 
already  achieved  striking  results  for  the  benefit  of  the  workers.  Some  of 
the  best  writers  in  the  country  contribute  to  their  pages,  and  no  man  who 
appreciates  the  great  issues  of  the  time  can  afford  to  be  without  one  of 
these  dailies. 

The  articles  in  this  pamphlet  are  taken  from  their  pages,  and  Mr. 
Hunter  now  writes  exclusively  for  those  dailies. 

The  following  comments  upon  his  writings  show  in  what  esteem 
they  are  held: 

"It  is  the  best  editorial  writing  done  in  this  country  today.  Bris- 
bane's is  no  better,  and  not  like  Hunter's,  always  up  to  the  standard. 
Hunter's  work  is  clear  and  direct,  logical  and  full  of  force.  His  writing 
is  for  the  day,  and  for  the  mind  of  that  day.    That's  journalism." 

LINCOLN  STEFFENS. 

"Not  since  before  the  War,  when  a  reader  of  Greeley's  TPJBUNE, 
have  I  felt  the  inspiring  words  of  a  writer  as  I  have  those  of  Mr.  Hun- 
ger.   His  work  continued  will  rouse  the  nation  to  action." 

K.  E.  BRAKEY,  Ventura,  California. 

"I  am  not  a  Socialist,  but  I  like  their  papers  because  they  tell  the 
plain,  blunt  truth.  I  hate  to  do  without  Mr.  Hunter's  writings.  He 
has  a  wonderful  faculty  for  analyzing  men." 

"I  read  Mr.  Hunter's  short  articles  with  exceeding  satisfaction. 
They  are  crisp  and  pointed,  and  admirably  adapted  to  the  purposes  of 
popular  propaganda.  His  name  has  become  very  familiar  in  all  the 
cottages  and  cabins  of  the  working  class,  and  an  inspiration  to  many 
and  many  a  poor  fellow  on  the  edge  of  despair." 

EUGENE  V.  DEBS. 

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SAMUEL  A.  BLOCH,  The  Bookman,  681  N.  Oakley  Ave.,  CHICAGO 


THE  CRISIS 


THE  UNIONS  AND  THE  COURTS 
THE  TYRANNY  OF  INJUNCTIONS 
THE    POWER    OF    UNITY 

BY 

ROBERT   HUNTER 


Author 
"Poverty",  "Socialist  at  Work",  Etc. 


55 


UNITED  WE  STAND 
DIVIDED    WE    FALL 


SAMUEL  A.  BLOCH 

The  Bookman 

681  North  Oakley  Avenue 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 

1909 


SPREGKELS 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


I. 

My  union  friends,  you  have  not  one  scrap  of  manhood  left 
if  you  quietly  submit  to  the  judicial  efforts  now  being  made  to 
deprive  you  of  every  liberty. 

It  is  no  longer  a  case  of  a  few  wretched  miners  in  Colorado. 

Every  working  man  from  coast  to  coast  is  now  up  against 
the  real  thing. 

Your  unemployed  and  starving  brothers  are  clubbed  in 
Chicago,  branded  as  criminals  in  Los  Angeles,  and  deprived  of 
the  right  to  come  forth  into  the  streets  to  say,  "Our  children 
starve ! ' ' 

Union  men  are  being  arrested.  Injunctions  are  being  used 
like  cudgels  to  beat  you  into  insensibility.  Union  funds  are 
being  placed  at  the  mercy  of  every  predatory  employer. 

The  great  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  has  at  last  got  into 
action — not  against  the  trusts,  but  against  you. 

Your  employers  can  blacklist  you  and  force  your  militant 
brother  to  tramp  from  town  to  town  in  search  of  work,  only  to 
find  that  the  employers  are  combining  to  see  that  he  slowly 
starves  to  death. 

The  constitution  guarantees  the  right  of  free  speech. 

193477, 


4  THE    CRISIS 

What  is  picketing  but  the  right  of  free  speech?  To  pur- 
suade  your  brother  workman  not  to  take  the  food  out  of  the 
mouths  of  your  families  ? 

What  is  the  boycott  but  the  right  to  express  to  your  friends 
the  injustice  inflicted  upon  you  by  an  unfriendly  employer? 

The  constitution  declares  that  you  have  these  rights. 

A  thousand  little  corporation-owned  czars  are  annulling 
these  rights. 

If  there  is  a  scrap  of  manhood  left  among  the  workers  they 
will  see  that  these  decisions  do  not  stand.  In  every  city,  town 
and  hamlet  there  should  be  mass  meetings  of  Socialists  and 
trade  unionists  to  fight  together  against  the  common  enemy. 

Working-class  solidarity  saved  Haywood. 

If  every  man  that  loves  liberty  joins  with  every  other  man 
who  loves  liberty  they  will  send  up  a  protest  to  the  powers  that 
be  that  will  fill  this  land  with  consternation. 


II. 

A  crisis,  a  momentous  crisis,  faces  labor.  No  one  doubts 
that.    The  leaders  and  the  rank  and  file  agree  to  that. 

A  decision  must  be  made.  A  foolish  act  means  ruin ;  a  wise 
act  means  salvation. 

What  shall  this  action  be? 

That  is  a  question  which  every  union  in  this  broad  land 
should  be  discussing. 

There  must  be  a  change  of  policy.  The  old  game  won't 
work.    What,  then,  is  to  be  done  ? 

For  twenty  years  Samuel  Gompers  has  said  that  politics 
would  destroy  the  unions.    What  did  he  mean  by  that? 

He  meant  that  when  the  union  leaders  began  to  work  for 


THE    CRISIS  5 

democratic  or  republican  politicians  the  labor  movement  would 
be  sold  to  the  highest  bidder. 

He  meant  that  corruption  would  eat  its  way  into  the  ranks 
of  labor. 

He  meant  that  leaders  would  desert  their  union  brothers 
for  the  sake  of  good  fat  political  jobs. 

He  meant  that  Tammany  would  have  its  representatives 
in  the  unions ;  that  Morgan  and  Rockefeller  would  have  their 
representatives  in  the  unions ;  and  that  organized  labor  would 
be  torn  asunder  and  slaughtered  in  a  futile  and  corrupt  war- 
fare between  these  political  forces. 

Politics  in  the  unions  meant  that  every  corrupt  leader 
could  become  rich.  The  union  movement  would  become  the  tail 
of  a  political  machine,  and  the  organization  that  had  cost  so 
much  toil  and  anguish  and  sacrifice  to  build  up  would  end  in 
chaos  and  destruction. 

This  is  what  Samuel  Gompers  meant.  And  he  spoke  the 
truth. 

But  he  spoke  these  words  when  all  was  smooth  sailing  for 
the  unions.  To-day  they  are  in  rough  seas,  threatened  by  a 
tempest  of  adverse  winds.  He  begins  now  to  question  his 
former  judgment  and  is  on  the  point  of  revising  his  former 
decisions. 

The  dangers  ahead  are  great;  something  must  be  done. 

All  right;  something  must  be  done.  Now,  what  is  to  be 
done? 

The  question  can  be  answered  right,  and  it  can  be  answered 
wrong. 

Anything  which  divides  the  forces  of  labor  will  be  a  wrong 
answer.  Anything  which  corrupts  the  leaders  of  labor  will  be 
a  wrong  answer.  Anything  which  gives  fat  jobs  to  a  few  will 
be  a  wrong  answer. 

It  is  a  big  question  that  has  been  answered,  and  answered 
right  by  the  workmen  of  nearly  every  country  of  Europe. 

They  have  answered  it  by  adopting  the  same  independent 
action  in  politics  that  they  have  adopted  in  their  trade  unions. 


6  THE    CRISIS 

They  have  massed  the  forces  of  labor  in  one  mighty  and 
united  party  of  labor. 

They  have  put  their  trade  union  leaders  into  polities,  inde- 
pendent of  all  other  political  parties. 

A  labor  leader  who  helps  one  of  the  old  political  parties 
is  looked  upon  as  a  scab  and  a  traitor. 

The  workers  have  united.  They  have  elected  their  own 
representatives,  paid  their  political  expenses  out  of  their  own 
funds,  and  they  control  their  representatives  as  they  now  con- 
trol their  trade  union  leaders.  Their  political  organization  is 
their  own,  and  to  voice  the  wrongs  of  labor  and  to  support  the 
demands  of  labor  they  have  their  own  press,  owned  and  con- 
trolled by  the  workers. 

The  workers  of  Europe  are  in  politics  good  and  strong, 
and  they  will  be  there  at  the  finish. 

There  is  no  corruption,  and  no  inter-fraternal  warfare. 

The  John  Mitchells  and  the  Samuel  Gompers  are  in  the 
parliaments  of  Europe,  not  representing  a  Tammany  machine 
or  a  republican  oligarchy,  not  working  underground  alongside 
of  corporation  attorneys,  traction  thieves  and  trust  magnates. 
They  are  in  parliament  as  the  representatives  of  the  working 
class,  hostile  to  the  old  political  machines,  and  to  every  man 
and  every  institution  that  represents  capitalist  exploitation. 

A  crisis  faces  American  labor.  A  new  policy  has  to  be 
formulated.    A  decision  has  to  be  made. 

It  can  be  made  right,  and  it  can  be  made  wrong. 

If  it  is  made  wrong,  the  unions  will  be  destroyed  and  the 
working  class  crucified. 

If  it  is  made  right,  it  will  mean  the  unity  of  labor  and  the 
onward  march  toward  emancipation. 


THE    CRISIS  7 

in. 

There  is  one  word  that  labor  needs  to  learn. 

''Trust  yourselves  and  yourselves  alone.,, 

Hearst  is  for  all  I  know  a  good  and  sincere  man. 

Bryan  is  for  all  I  know  a  good  and  sincere  man. 

Roosevelt  is  for  all  I  know  a  good  and  sincere  man. 

But  they  cannot  help  you.    You  alone  can  help  yourselves. 

Hearst  and  Bryan  and  Roosevelt  do  not  know  what  you 
want  as  you  yourselves  know  what  you  want. 

There  are  doubtless  Republicans  here  and  Democrats  there 
who  would  like  to  befriend  labor ;  but  how  can  any  man  expect 
to  have  others  befriend  him  when  he  does  not  befriend  himself? 

There  was  a  time  when  labor  was  ignorant,  stupid,  fitted 
for  but  little  else  than  slavery. 

To-day  labor  can  stand  on  its  own  feet ;  can  express  its  own 
will;  can  fight  its  own  battles. 

And  the  sooner  it  stops  seeking  for  some  Moses  to  lead  it 
out  of  the  wilderness  the  better  for  labor. 

In  the  past  it  has  been  looking  for  friends.  It  has  been 
begging  for  sweet  words,  flattering  phrases,  and  loving  acts. 

It  has  not  demanded  its  rights.  It  has  begged  for  its 
rights ;  it  has  pleaded  for  its  rights. 

The  time  arrives  for  it  to  realize  that  it  must  build  up  an 
organization  of  its  own;  it  must  have  its  own  party;  go  to  its 
own  ward  meetings  and  express  its  own  will. 

It  must  have  its  own  representatives  in  every  legislature 
in  this  country. 

It  must  learn  to  fight,  to  be  brave,  self-reliant,  and  deter- 
mined. 

It  must  be  suspicious  of  friends,  and  confident  of  itself. 

It  must  cease  to  beg,  and  become  proud  of  its  own  power. 


8  THE    CRISIS 

It  must  learn  that  every  man  who  labors  is  a  friend,  and 
that  every  man  who  exploits  labor  is  an  enemy,  no  matter  with 
what  sweet  words  he  speaks  or  how  friendly  and  loving  he  may 
appear. 

If  labor  cannot  help  itself,  then  God  help  labor. 


IV. 

Some  trade  unionists  are  up  in  arms  against  the  Democratic 
"anti-injunction"  plank,  and  they  ought  to  be.  It  is  a  direct 
evasion  and  an  infamous  attempt  to  delude  labor. 

The  papers  report  that  Gompers  applauds  that  plank.  If 
this  is  true  he  is  applauding  the  defeat  of  labor. 

The  plank  is  a  flagrant,  and  I  have  confidence  enough  in 
the  intelligence  of  labor  to  believe,  a  vain  attempt  to  betray 
labor. 

An  anti-injunction  plank  was  demanded.  A  pro-injunction 
plank  was  obtained. 

Labor  has  declared  rightly,  wisely  and  constitutionally, 
that  an  injunction  should  never  be  issued  in  an  industrial  dis- 
pute. Such  injunctions  are  a  violation  of  our  liberties,  issued 
in  aid  of  the  employing  class  to  the  injury  of  the  working  class. 

But  what  have  the  Democrats  given  us  ? 

After  lauding  to  the  skies  the  judiciary  the  Democratic 
program  declares  that  "injunctions  should  not  be  issued  in  any 
case  in  which  injunctions  would  not  be  issued  if  no  industrial 
disputes  were  involved." 

Gompers  says  he  is  content  with  that  statement.  He  says 
he  does  not  want  any  special  legislation.  He  does  not  ask  the 
abolition  of  injunctions.  He  only  wants  them  to  be  used 
against  labor  in  the  same  way  they  are  used  against  others. 


THE    CRISIS 


Well,  here  is  an  injunction  that  was  not  used  against  labor. 

A  gentleman  in  Texas  asked  a  judge  to  enjoin  another  man 
from  alienating  the  affections  of  his  wife.  The  injunction  was 
granted.  It  commanded  the  intruder  neither  to  speak  to  nor 
otherwise  to  communicate  with  the  wife,  nor  to  go  near  her 
house,  nor  near  any  other  house  or  place  in  the  city  of  Dallas 
or  in  the  state  of  Texas  where  this  woman  happened  to  be. 

That  I  take  it  was  not  an  industrial  dispute.  It  was  not  an 
injunction  used  to  assist  capital  at  the  expense  of  labor.  It 
was  a  domestic  affair  into  which  a  judge  insinuated  himself 
and  his  authority  as  I  think  not  even  the  Czar  or  Kaiser  would 
attempt. 

Yet  Samuel  Gompers  says  he  is  willing  to  leave  to  judges 
the  power  to  issue  such  injunctions. 

But  if  a  judge  can  issue  an  injunction  like  the  above  he 
can  enjoin  (as  judges  have  done)  the  Brotherhood  of  Carpen- 
ters from  handling  nonunion  materials.  He  can  enjoin  a  quar- 
ryman's  union  from  soliciting  new  members.  He  can  dissolve 
unions  as  conspiracies.  He  can  even  enjoin  a  union  from  pay- 
ing an  eight-hour  strike  benefit. 

Furthermore,  he  can  enjoin  Samuel  Gompers  from  writing 
editorials  or  from  having  a  private  conversation  with  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States. 

If  a  judge  can  enjoin  a  man  from  alienating  the  affections 
of  another  man's  wife  he  can  enjoin  Samuel  Gompers  from 
alienating  the  affections  of  an  employe  for  his  master. 

The  Socialists  do  not  want  any  special  legislation.  Labor 
does  not  want  any  special  legislation.  They  want  a  funda- 
mental legislative  act — an  act  abolishing  government  by  in- 
junction. 

Whether  Samuel  Gompers  wants  that  or  not  we  are  reason- 
ably certain  that  labor  will  be  content  with  nothing  less. 


* 


THE    CRISIS 

V. 


When  Gompers  was  trying  to  get  an  anti-injunction  plank 
from  the  Democrats  and  Republicans  he  often  repeated  a  cer- 
tain phrase. 

He  said  again  and  again  that  labor  did  not  want  special 
legislation,  but  would  be  content  with  laws  that  applied  equally 
to  all. 

Had  the  Democrats  and  Republicans  agreed  with  him  on 
that  proposition  they  would  have  abolished  injunctions. 

But  the  Democrats  and  the  Republicans  do  not  intend  to 
give  labor  rights  which  other  men  enjoy. 

When  workingmen  commit  crimes  they  are  punished. 

But  that  does  not  satisfy  the  Democrats  and  the  Republi- 
cans. They  want  the  power  of  injunction  so  that  they  can 
make  anything  a  workingman  does  a  crime  and  punish  him  at 
will. 

Our  courts,  as  we  know,  often  leave  rich  men  go  unpun- 
ished even  when  they  commit  a  statutory  crime,  while  poor  men 
are  given  the  full  extent  of  the  law. 

But  that  does  not  satisfy  the  Democrats  and  Republicans. 
They  want  the  injunction  also  that  any  judge  can  make  a  new 
law  at  a  moment's  notice  and  punish  at  will  he  who  violates  it. 

Try  for  a  moment  to  get  some  conception  of  the  tyrannical 
power  that  lies  in  the  injunction.  If  the  Republican  or  Demo- 
cratic party  passed  a  law  making  free  speech,  peaceable  assem- 
bly, striking,  picketing,  or  any  similar  constitutional  right 
illegal  such  a  party  would  inevitably  meet  defeat  at  the  polls. 

However  much  they  would  like  to  pass  such  laws,  they 
dare  not. 

But  with  the  injunction  they  are  able  at  will  to  pass  laws 
to  meet  just  such  specific  cases.  In  this  way  they  get  around 
the  difficulty. 

A  judge  enjoins  you  from  doing  what  you  have  a  perfect 
right  to  do.    So  that  if  you  exercise  your  right  you  do  it  at  your 


THE    CRISIS  11 

peril.  The  question  of  your  rights  never  enters  into  the  matter, 
and  you  are  condemned  for  contempt  of  court. 

In  this  way  the  Republican  and  Democratic  parties  through 
their  judges  make  workingmen  punishable  not  only  when  they 
commit  crime,  but  even  when  they  commit  no  crime. 

If  there  is  an  outcry  neither  party  is  to  blame,  and  only 
some  miserable  little  judge,  obeying  orders  from  above,  is 
condemned  for  such  high-handed  action. 

You  can  see,  then,  what  a  powerful  weapon  the  injunction 
is.  With  such  power  a  judge  can  make  or  unmake  laws.  He 
can  declare  anything  illegal  which  the  employer  desires  to  have 
illegal.  He  can  override  the  constitution,  and  his  word  is  of 
supreme  power. 

Gompers  seems  to  fear  that  to  demand  the  abolition  of  the 
injunction  is  to  demand  special  legislation.  That  is  a  peculiar 
stand  for  a  trade  union  leader  to  take. 

Every  injunction  is  a  piece  of  special  legislation.  It  is  so 
special  and  so  undemocratic  that  no  political  party  would  dare 
become  responsible  for  it. 

Yet  our  wily  politicians  have  pulled  the  wool  over  Mr. 
Gompers'  eyes,  and  he  leaves  Denver  grateful  for  a  few  words 
that  promise  nothing. 


VI. 

Gompers  is  quoted  as  greatly  pleased  that  the  Democrats 
promise  trial  by  jury  for  cases  of  indirect  contempt. 

This  means  virtually  that  in  case  a  union  man  offends  a 
judge  who  has  enjoined  him  from  doing  his  duty  and  exercising 
his  constitutional  rights  he  may  be  tried  by  jury. 

Union  editors  have  been  enjoined  from  writing  editorials ; 


12  THE    CRISIS 

union  men  have  been  enjoined  from  striking,  enjoined  from 
peaceable  assembly,  from  picketing,  even  from  joining  unions. 

But  Gompers  surely  knows  that  a  jury  has  no  right  to  pass 
upon  the  law.  The  jury  accepts  the  law  from  the  judges.  It 
takes  its  instructions  from  the  courts  and  it  passes  solely  upon 
the  question  of  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  accused. 

That  is  to  say,  if  a  judge  enjoins  Gompers  from  calling  a 
strike  the  jury  will  not  decide  whether  Gompers  did  or  did  not 
have  the  constitutional  and  legal  right  to  call  a  strike.  It  will 
only  decide  whether  or  not  Gompers  disobeyed  his  royal  emi- 
nence the  judge. 

In  other  words,  trial  by  jury  does  not  affect  the  writ  of 
injunction  in  the  slightest. 

In  any  case,  how  much  is  gained  in  industrial  disputes  by  a 
trial  by  jury  ? 

Moyer  and  Haywood  were  tried  by  juries,  but  they  were 
kept  eighteen  months  in  jail  before  their  cases  came  to  trial. 

Suppose  a  strike  occurs  and  the  leaders  are  enjoined  from 
speaking,  picketing  or  even  advising  men  to  go  on  strike.  Sup- 
pose they  disobey  the  judge  (as  they  ought  to  do)  and  are  held 
for  contempt.  Can  they  not  be  kept  in  jail  until  the  strike  is 
lost? 

In  other  words,  grant  tihe  right  to  issue  injunctions  in  in- 
dustrial disputes  and  you  give  a  judge  the  power  to  assist  the 
employers,  to  aid  scabs,  to  imprison  leaders  and  to  break 
strikes.  Trial  by  jury  in  such  cases  will  not  help  you.  Strikes 
can  be  tied  up  by  the  courts  just  as  easily  when  there  is  trial 
by  jury  as  they  are  now  without  trial  by  jury. 

What  is  wanted  is  the  abolition  of  injunctions.  So  long  as 
judges  have  this  power  they  are  monarchs.  So  long  as  injunc- 
tions are  granted  in  industrial  disputes  just  so  long  can  one 
man  override  our  constitutional  rights.  So  long  as  a  single 
judge  is  able  to  make  illegal  whatever  he  desires  just  so  long 
will  that  power  be  used  to  cripple  unions,  to  break  strikes  and 
to  override  our  constitutional  rights  of  free  speech,  of  a  free 
press  and  of  peaceable  assembly. 


THE    CRISIS  13 

When  you  tell  us,  Gompers,  that  Judge  Parker  was  your 
most  enthusiastic  supporter  in  Denver  you  convince  us  that  you 
have  been  outwitted  and  the  cause  of  labor  betrayed. 

The  Democrats  have  given  you  nothing.  They  have  only 
been  a  little  more  dishonest  than  the  Republicans.    That  is  all. 

The  Republicans  adopted  an  "anti-injunction"  plank 
which  promises  to  legalize  the  injunction. 

The  Democrats  adopted  an  "anti-injunction"  plank  which 
promises  to  try  you  by  jury  in  case  you  offend  the  autocratic 
ruling  of  a  judge  by  exercising  your  constitutional  rights. 

The  Socialists  intend  to  abolish  injunctions. 

As  the  head  of  2,000,000  union  men,  which  of  these  propo- 
sitions is  most  acceptable  to  you? 


VII. 


The  "anti-injunction"  plank  of  the  Democratic  platform 
declares  that  "the  courts  of  justice  are  the  bulwarks  of  our 
liberties,  and  we  yield  to  none  in  our  purpose  to  maintain  their 
integrity." 

The  platform  then  declares  for  injunctions  and  trial  by 
jury  in  case  of  indirect  contempt. 

Let  us  see  about  this  bulwark  of  our  liberties.  Let  us  look 
into  its  history  and  see  whether  this  is  indeed  a  bulwark  of  our 
liberties. 

Judge  Parker  and  a  lot  of  other  corporation  judges  have 
persuaded  Mr.  Gompers  to  believe,  as  he  has  said,  that  "injunc- 
tions are  in  themselves  of  a  highly  important  and  beneficient 
character." 

Mr.  Gompers  has  taken  his  advice  from  the  wrong  people. 


14  THE    CRISIS 

&^:- ' 
WBB5L 

He  might  have  acquired  more  accurate  information  about  the 
subject  had  he  consulted  an  encyclopaedia. 

Here  is  a  bit  of  interesting  history. 

Injunctions  were  originally  the  exclusive  privilege  of  the 
king.  He  was  above  law,  and  therefore  could  set  aside  law.  In 
case  anyone  suffered  an  injury  for  which  the  law  courts 
afforded  no  remedy  he  petitioned  the  king;  the  case  was  tried 
before  the  king,  and,  if  the  king  desired,  he  exercised  his 
supreme,  divine  right  of  injunction. 

Naturally  such  cases  became  numerous,  and  finally  he  ap- 
pointed special  judges  to  hear  such  cases.  They  were  called 
chancellors,  and  extraordinary  power  was  granted  them  only 
because  they  were  the  personal  representatives  of  the  king. 

A  chancellor  could  exercise  this  supreme  power  at  any 
time.  Unlike  the  ordinary  judges,  he  could  command  an  act 
to  be  done  or  not  to  be  done,  as  his  commands  were  the  com- 
mands of  the  sovereign.  He  became  a  petty  czar,  and  in  case 
anyone  disobeyed  his  commands  that  one  was  guilty  of  con- 
tempt of  the  king,  and  his  disobedience  was  punishable  by 
imprisonment. 

We  inherited  this  judicial  system  from  England.  As  we 
had  no  kings  we  substituted  judges  in  their  stead. 

We  should  have  done  away  with  the  writ  of  injunction  if 
we  had  really  intended  that  kingly  power  should  have  no  place 
in  this  democracy. 

But  we  did  away  with  one  king  and  put  in  his  stead  thous- 
ands of  little  judges,  exercising  by  the  writ  of  injunction  his 
unlimited  power. 

There  is  an  old  saying  in  boxing,  "To  get  a  man  in  chan- 
cery/ '  Look  it  up  in  the  dictionary  and  you  will  see  that  it 
means  "to  get  the  head  of  an  antagonist  under  one's  arm  so 
that  one  can  pummel  it  at  will."  That  is  the  meaning  of  the 
power  of  the  injunction. 

The  courts  want  it,  the  capitalists  want  the  courts  to  have 
it,  and  so  long  as  the  courts  have  it  the  head  of  labor  will  be 
under  their  arm  in  a  suitable  position  to  be  punched  at  will. 


THE    CRISIS  15 

Judge  Parker  has  said  that  the  writ  of  injunction  is  a  bene- 
ficent thing.    Mr.  Gompers  agrees  with  him. 

Some  loose-thinking,  sheep-like  followers  agree  with  Judge 
Parker  and  Mr.  Gompers,  but  the  working  people  as  a  whole 
do  not  agree.  They  demand  the  entire  abolition  of  government 
by  injunction,  and  they  will  be  content  with  nothing  else. 

Who  are  these  judges  that  they  should  be  considered  supe- 
rior to  the  people,  able  at  will  to  make  or  unmake  laws?  Who 
are  these  creatures  that  presume  to  be  greater  than  their  crea- 
tors? What  place  have  men  of  such  czar-like  proportions  in 
a  country  whose  sovereign  is  the  people? 

We  once  showed  our  contempt  for  kings,  and  we  shall 
show  our  contempt  for  a  judge  with  kingly  power.  A  man 
who  can  enjoin  us  to  do  or  not  to  do  what  he  wills ;  a  man  who 
can  arrest  us  for  disobedience  of  his  commands,  and  a  man  who 
can  try  us,  fine  us  and  imprison  us  for  disobedience  of  his  com- 
mands is  an  autocrat  and  a  czar.  He  has  no  place  in  oar 
republic.     Well-intentioned  or  ill-intentioned,  he  is  a  tyrant. 

Far  from  being  a  bulwark  of  our  liberties,  he  is  the  de- 
struction of  our  liberties. 

Labor  has  declared  against  government  by  injunction,  and 
that  battle  will  be  carried  on  to  the  finish. 


VIII. 

In  a  letter  to  James  W.  Van  Cleave,  our  friend  Bryan 
violently  protests  against  the  accusation  that  the  Democratic 
injunction  plank  is  an  assault  upon  the  courts. 

Bryan  declares  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  raise  a  false 
issue  in  regard  to  the  courts. 


16  THE    CRISIS 

Gompers  has  also  said  that  as  the  representative  of  organ- 
ized labor  he  has  no  desire  to  make  an  assault  upon  the  courts. 

Taft,  of  course,  does  not  intend  to  make  an  assault  upon 
the  courts. 

Hearst  some  time  ago  publicly  rebuked  his  editor,  Brisbane, 
for  making  an  assault  upon  the  courts. 

It  appears  that  the  only  people  who  desire  to  assault  the 
courts  are  the  Socialists. 

Most  men  seem  to  consider  assaults  upon  the  courts  very 
much  as  people  in  England  consider  assaults  upon  the  mon- 
archy. One  can  assault  anything  else  and  find  approval  some- 
where, but  there  are  certain  things  which  one  dare  not  assault. 

With  us  it  is  the  courts ;  in  England  it  is  the  monarchy. 

Most  people  seem  filled  with  a  superstitious  awe  when  they 
think  about  the  courts.  The  courts  may  have  feet  of  clay,  but 
they  are  idols,  and  anyone  who  dares  to  criticise  them  utters  an 
unpardonable  blasphemy.  Let  Roosevelt  say  a  word  against  the 
courts  and  he  is  attacked  from  all  sides  as  a  person  bordering 
upon  insanity.    Well,  let  us  look  into  this  matter  a  minute. 

No  one  questions  that  Abraham  Lincoln  attacked  the 
courts.  And  Thomas  Jefferson,  whose  name  is  still  used  by 
unscrupulous  persons  to  win  political  power,  saw  during  the 
last  years  of  his  life  that  the  courts  had  a  power  in  this  country 
little  short  of  the  despotic. 

He  said,  "The  judiciary  of  the  United  States  is  the  subtle 
corps  of  Sappers  and  Miners  constantly  working  underground 
to  undermine  the  foundations  of  our  confederate  fabric." 

He  said,  "A  judiciary  independent  of  a  king  or  executive 
alone  is  a  good  thing,  but  independent  of  the  will  of  the  nation 
is  a  solecism  at  least  in  a  republican  government." 

At  another  time  he  said  it  is  "the  great  object  of  my  fear 
— that  body  like  gravity  ever  acting  with  noiseless  foot  and 
unalarming  advance,  gaining  ground  step  by  step,  and  holding 
what  it  gains." 

As  an  old  man  of  80,  after  nearly  half  a  century  of  fighting 
for  Republican  institutions,  Thomas  Jefferson  tried  to  rally  his 


THE    CRISIS  17 

friends  to  an  assault  upon  the  courts.  Some  one  wrote'  him 
that  against  the  growing  power  of  the  courts  "every  man 
should  raise  his  voice,"  and  Jefferson  answered  him,  "Yes,  and 
more  j  he  should  uplift  his  arm. ' ' 

He  asserted  that  to  consider  the  judges  "as  the  ultimate 
arbiters  of  all  constitutional  doctrines  is  a  very  dangerous 
doctrine  indeed,  and  one  that  will  place  us  under  the  despot- 
ism of  an  oligarchy." 

Those  were  his  words  88  years  ago.  But  where  are  the 
leaders  to-day  who  dare  utter  such  revolutionary  sentiments? 
Our  political  leaders  have  appetites  that  crave  political  power, 
but  they  seem  absolutely  devoid  of  political  principles. 

They  would  no  more  dare  affront  the  capitalistic  press  of 
this  country  than  they  would  dare  to  eat  peas  in  public  with  a 
knife. 

Thomas  Jefferson  was  right.  He  saw  that  the  growing 
power  of  the  courts  meant  despotism,  and  now  we  have 
despotism. 

Upon  every  bench  of  this  country  sits  a  little  czar.  He 
makes  and  unmakes  laws  by  his  decisions.  He  interprets  the 
word  and  spirit  of  our  law.  He  often  goes  "hat  in  hand"  to 
the  bosses  of  the  political  machines  and  to  Wall  street,  but  the 
sacred  words,  written  by  Thomas  Jefferson  and  others  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  a  republic  in  this  country,  this  judge 
interprets — and  naturally — in  such  a  manner  as  to  destroy  our 
republic  and  to  give  us  an  oligarchy. 

I  marvel  at  our  intrepid  friends,  Bryan,  Taft,  Gompers  and 
Hearst,  who  bow  down  before  their  little  oligarchs  and  hastily 
declare  they  never  intended  to  make  "any  assault  upon  the 
courts."  Heaven  forbid  thev  should  ever  touch  this  beloved 
idol! 

These  men  quote  piously  the  words  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
and  Thomas  Jefferson — whose  names,  by  the  way,  we  would  not 
now  remember  if  they  had  not  assaulted  false  idols. 


18  THE    CRISIS 

Well,  the  Socialists  are  assaulting  the  courts  and  shall  con- 
tinue to  assault  the  courts  until  their  sacredness  shall  have  de- 
parted from  them,  and  they,  like  other  political  institutions, 
shall  become  subjected  to  "the  will  of  the  nation. " 


IX. 

The  Russians  have  one  czar ;  the  Americans  have  thousands. 
Every  servile,  corporation-loving,  wealth-serving,  trust-trained 
attorney  in  our  country  has  the  great  and  holy  aspiration  of 
taking  an  honored  place  among  our  autocrats.  He  has  but  to 
step  from  the  office  of  some  law-breaking  iand  predatory  cor- 
poration into  the  high  position  of  an  American  czar. 

The  people  even  elect  him  at  times,  and  the  supposed  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  appoint  him  to  rule  over  its  destinies. 
He  is  supreme.  He  may  be  as  feeble-minded  as  one  of  the 
Georges,  as  licentious  as  one  of  the  French  kings ;  but  a  word 
from  him  is  enough  to  defy  the  will  of  eighty  millions. 

There  is  an  instrument  which  school  children  learn  by 
heart.  It  declares  in  very  beautiful  words  the  forms  of  our 
governing  institutions,  but  this  judge-czar  interprets  these 
words  as  it  pleases  him,  and  he  becomes  the  constitution.  He 
can  deny  free  speech,  free  assembly,  the  right  to  unite ;  he  can 
render  invalid  our  laws;  and  a  word  from  him  is  enough  to 
render  null  the  unanimous  will  of  the  entire  people.  Our 
democracy  really  means  the  substitution  of  several  thousand 
autocrats  for  one. 

As  one  czar  was  intolerable  to  us,  we  decided  to  establish 
a  host  of  czars.  This  is  the  proposition  that  every  trade  union, 
every  workingman,  every  Socialist,  every  Democrat,  every  Re- 
publican is  up  against. 


THE    CRISIS  19 

It  is  a  new  form  of  oppression  which  exists  in  this  country 
alone.  The  British  parliament  is  the  supreme  power.  There  is 
no  written  constitution,  and  a  law  of  parliament  is  considered 
final. 

The  French  parliament  is  but  little  less  omnipotent.  It  is 
not  intended  that  an  ordinary  statute  should  change  the  French 
constitution,  but  in  case  the  members  of  the  French  chamber 
should  decide  to  pass  an  unconstitutional  law  no  court  or  official 
could  legally  prevent  its  being  put  into  operation. 

In  Italy  they  are  determined  that  no  judge  shall  interfere 
with  the  will  of  the  people,  and  the  courts  are  impotent  to 
interfere  with  legislative  decisions. 

In  Germany  the  courts  would  never  think  of  setting  aside 
a  statute  passed  by  the  Reichstag.  In  Austria  the  courts  can 
question  the  validity  of  an  ordinance,  but  they  are  specifically 
forbidden  to  inquire  into  the  constitutionality  of  statutes.  In 
Switzerland  the  legal  tribunals  must  enforce  without  question 
the  laws  of  the  federal  assembly. 

If  the  working  people  of  Germany,  Austria,  France,  Eng- 
land, Switzerland  and  other  countries  force  a  law  through  par- 
liament the  law  stands.  The  working  people  of  America  have 
no  trouble  in  obtaining  laws,  as  the  legislators  well  know  that 
when  they  have  passed  from  their  hands  it  is  impossible  for 
them  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  these  thousands  of  little  czars. 

We  need  an  agitation  in  this  country;  not  for  universal 
suffrage,  but  for  freedom  of  speech,  freedom  of  assembly,  free- 
dom to  pass  laws,  freedom  to  have  our  votes  counted,  freedom 
to  strike,  freedom  to  unionize,  freedom  to  work  eight  hours, 
freedom  to  live  and  act  like  men  and  to  demand  conditions 
tolerable  to  men. 

It  is  a  big  job,  and  it  is  a  long  fight,  because  we  shall  never 
have  freedom  in  this  country  until  we  have  shackled  the  power 
of  these  little  autocrats  and  put  them  in  their  proper  place  as 
servants  of  the  American  people. 


20  THE    CRISIS 

X. 

Some  time  ago  the  New  York  Evening  Post  printed  an  edi- 
torial on  "The  Reign  of  Lawlessness."  It  was  very  much  ap- 
proved of  apparently  by  the  readers  of  that  paper. 

A  gentleman  who  signs  himself  A.  B.  H.  writes  a  letter  to 
express  his  approval,  and  incidentally  to  say  that  "the  basic 
trouble  with  the  American  people  of  to-day  is  that  for  the  past 
five  or  six  years  all  sorts  of  strange  influences  and  ideas  entirely 
foreign  to  our  system  of  government  have  been  forced  upon 
them,  which,  without  doubt,  have  impaired  the  reverence  for 
the  courts  which  in  years  past  they  enjoyed." 

Reverence  for  the  courts !    What  do  you  think  of  that  ? 

The  lack  of  reverence  for  the  courts,  he  thinks,  is  due  to 
strange  foreign  influences  and  ideas.  These  great  fountains  of 
justice ;  these  political  institutions  almost  divine  in  their  origin ; 
these  holy  places  of  the  holy — what  a  sacrilege  that  they  should 
be  undermined  by  irreverence ! 

We  must  revere  courts,  not  justice.  We  must  revere  the 
church;  not  Jesus.  We  must  revere  dogma;  not  truth.  We 
must  revere  the  constitution ;  not  liberty.  We  must  revere  Tim 
Sullivan  and  Hinky  Dink;  not  Democracy.  We  must  revere 
Cannon  and  Aldrich ;  not  Republicanism.  We  must  revere  pros- 
perity and  poverty,  wage-slavery  and  luxury — we  must  revere 
everything  that  is,  and  turn  our  faces  from  everything  that 
ought  to  be. 

Reverence !  That  is  a  big,  big  word.  And  reverence  does 
not  come  of  compulsion.  Like  every  other  great  human  senti- 
ment, like  love  and  hate,  it  comes  and  goes  of  its  own  free  will. 

Does  any  one  think  that  strange  foreign  influences  and 
ideas  undermined  the  reverence  for  kings,  undermined  the 
reverence  for  feudalism,  undermined  the  reverence  for  the  czar, 
undermined  the  reverence  for  monarchy? 

The  heart  of  man  yearns  for  reverence.  There  is  nothing 
in  this  wide  world  so  needful  to  him.    It  is  food  and  drink  for 


THE    CRISIS  21 

his  soul.  Nothing  but  the  rudest  shock,  nothing  but  the  most 
violent  betrayal,  nothing  but  the  vilest  treachery  undermines 
man's  reverence.  Ideas  are  about  as  ineffective  against  rever- 
ence as  the  lapping  tide  against  the  rock-ribbed  shores  of  Con- 
necticut. It  is  lying  and  falsehood  and  rottenness  and  injustice 
that  create  irreverence. 

If  there  were  justice  in  the  courts  do  you  think  that  ideas 
would  turn  the  people  from  revering  the  courts  ?  Do  you  sup- 
pose if  there  were  honesty  and  high  purpose  and  noble  behavior 
in  our  political  life  that  the  people  would  turn  from  it  in  dis- 
gust? Do  you  suppose  if  our  present  social  order  offered  to 
mankind  peace  and  comfort,  fair  dealing  and  decent  livelihood, 
that  ideas  could  make  the  people  wish  to  destroy  that  social 
order  ? 

Revere  the  courts?  Did  you  ever  see  some  shrewd,  icy, 
intellectual  lawyer  rise  to  the  top,  teaching  corporations  how  to 
evade  the  law,  and  how  to  do  everything  criminal  without  be- 
ing technically  a  criminal?  Did  you  ever  see  these  fox-like 
masters  of  the  legal  rules  of  the  game  advising  and  cautioning 
great  corruptionists,  wealthy  malefactors,  powerful  trust  mag- 
nates, how  to  break  every  law,  and  yet  technically  escape  break- 
ing any  law?  And  then  have  you  seen  these  men  taken  to  the 
capitals  of  our  states  or  to  Washington  to  be  placed  upon  our 
supreme  benches? 

They  are  our  courts;  men  like  ourselves,  no  different,  no 
more  to  be  revered ;  men  as  likely  to  lie  and  steal  and  cheat ; 
men  as  subservient  to  the  powerful  and  as  merciless  to  the 
weak.  Our  courts  are  not  divinities.  They  are  not  scientifically 
erected  mechanism.    They  are  simply  human  beings  who  rule. 

Revere  the  courts?  Nonsense!  "We  will  revere  nothing 
short  of  justice. 

Every  revolt  against  lawlessness  is  signaled  as  lawlessness. 
Every  revolt  against  irreligion  is  signaled  as  irreligion.  Every 
revolt  against  despotism  is  signaled  as  despotism.  Every  re- 
volt against  falsehood  is  signaled  a  falsehood. 


22  THE    CRISIS 

But  it  has  availed  nothing  in  the  past  and  will  avail  nothing 
in  the  future.  Man's  soul  must  have  reverence.  His  inner  life 
can  no  more  exist  without  reverence  than  his  body  can  exist 
without  food  and  drink. 

But  he  will  not  revere  false  gods,  nor  injustice,  nor  untruth. 
He  must  have  for  his  reverence  that  which  is  worthy  of  his 
reverence.  And  out  of  his  own  life  and  energy,  out  of  his  own 
revolt  and  passion,  out  of  his  own  love  and  sacrifice  and  labor  he 
will  create  that  truth,  that  justice,  that  social  order,  to  which 
his  soul  may  turn — with  reverence. 


XI. 

Samuel  Gompers,  you  are  the  leader  of  two  million  men. 
That  is  a  mighty  body. 

They  are  the  most  capable  and  intelligent  of  the  working 
class.  They  are  well  organized ;  they  receive  the  highest  wages ; 
they  have  the  best  hours.  They  have  won  their  enviable  posi- 
tion through  trade  unionism. 

With  this  army  you  have  fought  the  employers  on  the  in- 
dustrial field.  They  have  tried  to  crush  you,  and  they  have 
failed.  They  have  found  you  too  powerful  and  too  well  organ- 
ized for  them  to  win  a  permanent  victory. 

They  are  now,  therefore,  trying  to  crush  you  by  legislation, 
by  means  of  the  courts — through  their  political  power. 

Do  you  realize  that  the  battle-field  has  changed? 

It  is  no  longer  an  industrial  struggle;  it  is  a  political 
struggle. 

Leaders  of  labor  are  no  longer  where  they  once  were — at 
the  head  of  a  strike.  You  are  in  the  lobbies  of  the  legislatures, 
fighting  political  battles. 


THE    CRISIS  23 

But  you  have  no  power  politically.  You  are  not  organized. 
You  cannot  honestly  say  that  you  can  control  a  single  vote 
except  your  own.  You  have  an  industrial  army  that  knows  how 
to  fight  on  the  industrial  field.  You  have  no  political  army, 
and  you  are  in  the  position  of  fighting  a  political  battle  with  no 
organized  force  behind  you. 

The  politicians  of  Washington  laugh  at  you.  Cannon  and 
Littlefield  and  Aldrich  ignore  you.    They  know  you  are  power- 


The  employers  are  pretty  shrewd  people.  They  realize 
that  you  are  a  very  powerful  man  in  an  industrial  battle,  and 
they  have  transferred  their  fighting  to  the  political  field.  They 
have  captured  the  courts  and  the  legislatures.  They  are  using 
every  power  they  possess,  industrially  and  politically,  to  de- 
stroy trade  unionism. 

You  are  fighting  them  with  one  hand — the  other  is  tied 
behind  your  back. 

Seriously,  Samuel  Gompers,  is  it  possible  that  you  hope  for 
success  ? 


XII. 

Sam  Gompers  once  said  to  me  that  politics  would  destroy 
the  unions. 

He  said  it  earnestly  and  meant  it  honestly. 

It  is  true  if  he  means  the  politics  in  which  he  is  now  en- 
gaged. 

It  is  true  if  he  means  the  politics  which  helps  a  Repub- 
lican here  and  a  Democrat  there. 

But  what  about  Socialist  polities? 

What  about  Labor  as  a  political  unit? 


24  THE    CRISIS 

What  about  a  party  in  opposition  to  all  other  parties  ? 

When  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  was  founded  the 
unions  in  Germany  were  weak.  They  knew  little  of  trade 
union  organization,  but  they  already  had  a  powerful  political 
party. 

Today  they  have  one  of  the  most  powerful  political  parties 
in  the  world.  They  have  also  the  most  powerful  trade  union 
movement  in  the  world. 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor  has  about  2,000,000 
members  in  a  population  of  80,000,000. 

The  German  organization  has  2,300,000  members  in  a  pop- 
ulation of  60,000,000. 

Since  the  Socialist  Party  in  Italy  was  started  the  unions 
have  grown  more  and  more  powerful.  In  addition  to  the  in- 
dustrial workers,  there  are  200,000  peasants  in  the  trade  unions. 

The  Socialist  Party  in  Belgium  is  now  building  up  a  per- 
fect trade  union  movement. 

Since  the  British  Labor  Party  was  formed  trade  unionism 
has  taken  on  a  new  lease  of  life.  At  the  last  trade  union  con- 
gress there  were  70  delegates  more  than  ever  before,  represent- 
ing 200,000  more  unionists  than  ever  before.  There  were  also 
34  members  of  parliament,  26  justices  of  the  peace,  and  numer- 
ous aldermen  and  municipal  councillors. 

Socialist  activity  does  not  decrease  the  interest  in  unionism. 
It  infuses  into  the  whole  working-class  movement  enthusiasm, 
hope,  confidence  and  militancy. 

The  labor  movement  of  America  is  stagnant,  on  the  de- 
fensive. 

It  is  trying  to  save  its  old  rights ;  not  to  win  new  rights. 

That  means  death.  Unless  the  whole  labor  world  is  infused 
with  the  new  progressive  spirit,  determined  to  fight  for  the  com- 
plete emancipation  of  labor,  even  the  trade  union  movement 
will  fall  into  decay. 

It  is  time  for  big  men,  big  policies  and  progressive  ideas, 
for  Labor  is  today  disheartened,  and  its  steps  weak  and  falter- 
ing. 


THE    CRISIS  25 

XIII. 

"Reward  your  friends  and  punish  your  enemies."  That  is 
Gompers'  last  word. 

It  sounds  well.  It  appears  wise.  And  it  looks  practical. 
Certainly  no  man  would  be  foolish  enough  to  disagree  with  that 
advice. 

Would  any  man  suggest  that  Labor  should  reward  its  ene- 
mies and  punish  its  friends  ?  By  all  means  reward  your  friends. 
Stand  by  them  through  thick  and  thin. 

But  having  said  that  we  are  no  further  forward.  It  is  a 
general  tactic  as  difficult  to  render  practical  as  the  command 
"Love  your  brother  as  yourself. " 

We  must  first  find  our  friends.  Who  are  they?  Where 
shall  we  seek  them  so  that  we  may  bring  them  our  reward? 
This  is  the  practical  question. 

Governor  Hughes  of  New  York  wanted  last  year  to  pass 
an  anti-gambling  bill.  He  found  many  in  his  own  party  at  odds 
with  him.  Some  were  his  enemies;  and  he  sought  to  punish 
his  enemies.  But  his  enemies  were  not  alone  in  his  own  party; 
there  were  quite  as  many  in  the  other  party. 

He  thought  at  one  time  that  he  would  try  to  prevent  the 
reelection  of  some  of  the  enemies  in  his  own  party,  but  he 
discovered  very  shortly  that  he  was  only  aiding  his  enemies  in 
the  other  party.  He  was  in  the  position  of  a  man  who  had  few 
if  any  friends  to  reward,  and  so  many  enemies  that  he  could 
not  punish  one  without  profiting  another. 

After  a  short  campaign  he  quit  that  method  of  trying  to 
reward  his  friends  and  punish  his  enemies.  He  found  there  was 
nothing  to  be  gained  by  defeating  his  Republican  enemies  and 
electing  his  Democratic  enemies. 

Abraham  Lincoln  once  saw  a  slave  sold  at  the  block.  He 
knelt  there  and  then  and  made  a  vow  that  if  it  were  ever  within 
his  power  that  thing  would  cease  in  the  United  States.  He  was 
in  politics,  and  he  wanted  to  reward  the  friends  of  the  negro  and 
to  punish  their  enemies. 


26  THE    CRISIS 

But  there  were  almost  as  many  enemies  of  the  negro  in  the 
Whig  party  as  there  were  in  the  Democratic  party.  To  vote 
for  either  party  meant  to  reward  not  the  friends  but  the  enemies 
of  the  negro. 

Abe  was  honest,  and  he  declared  for  the  establishment  of 
a  party  Wherein  there  should  be  only  the  friends  of  the  negro. 
He  did  not  want  to  make  a  mistake ;  he  did  not  want  to  punish 
friends  and  reward  enemies,  so  he  got  all  the  enemies  in  front 
of  him  and  all  the  friends  back  of  him. 

There  was  then  a  clear-cut  fight  between  the  friends  of  the 
negro  and  the  enemies  of  the  negro.  He  who  voted  for  the  new 
party  could  do  no  other  than  reward  friends  and  punish  ene- 
mies. 

Now,  Who  are  the  friends  of  Labor? 

If  Labor's  friends  were  in  the  Democratic  party,  Labor 
would  have  no  problem  to  solve  in  the  states  controlled  by  the 
Democratic  party.  The  states  of  the  South,  the  states  of  the 
North,  the  cities,  towns  and  hamlets  controlled  by  the  followers 
of  Bryan  would  be  Model  Labor  Communities. 

If  Labor's  enemies  were  only  in  the  Republican  party  the 
condition  of  Labor  in  the  Republican  states,  cities  and  hamlets 
would  present  a  frightful  warning  to  Labor. 

Why,  then,  do  we  find  in  the  Democratic  South  the  con- 
dition of  Labor  about  the  most  deplorable  in  the  world  ? 

No;  the  record  of  both  parties  shows  that  the  enemies  of 
Labor  pretty  well  dominate  both  parties. 

The  voter,  then,  who  accepts  Mr.  Gompers'  advice  will 
hardly  be  able  to  vote  for  either  the  Republican  or  the  Demo- 
cratic party. 

Well,  then,  who  are  Labor's  friends? 

They  are  those  who  want  tolerable  conditions  to  work  in ; 
who  want  wages  increased  and  hours  lessened;  who  want  to 
abolish  unemployment,  misery  and  want. 

They  are  the  comrades  in  this  and  all  other  lands.  They 
are  those  who  fight  the  same  battle  that  you  fight ;  who  strug- 
gle as  you  struggle  for  a  righteous  share  of  the  earth's  plenty. 


THE    CRISIS  27 

They  are  your  union  brothers  and  your  Socialist  brothers. 

Let  any  man  who  labors  go  into  the  lobby  of  Congress  or 
into  the  halls  of  any  legislature  in  this  country. 

And  then  let  him  go  to  any  union  or  Socialist  meeting. 

Does  anyone  doubt  where  the  friends  are  to  be  found? 

Reward  your  friends,  yes ;  punish  your  enemies,  yes.  But 
first  of  all  find  your  friends. 


XIV. 

You  know  the  story  of  the  Golden  Fleece — the  old  Greek 
tale,  limpid,  picturesque  and  beautiful,  describing  the  struggle 
for  wealth. 

Jason,  at  the  head  of  his  heroes,  was  an  ancient  plutocrat. 
He  fought  giants,  great  bulls — breathing  fire  from  their  nos- 
trils— and  monstrous  dragons. 

Once  at  midnight  he  found  it  necessary  to  fight  alone  a 
field  of  warriors,  sprung  from  ground  sown  with  dragons ' 
teeth.  They  were  flourishing  their  weapons,  clashing  their 
swords,  and  boiling  over  with  red-hot  thirst  for  battle. 

Show  us  the  enemy  !"  they  shouted.  "Lead  to  the 
charge!    Death  or  victory !    Onward,  comrades!" 

Fire  flashed  from  their  enraged  eyes,  and  mighty  shouts 
arose  from  the  whole  field:  "Guard  the  Golden  Fleece!" 

Jason,  with  his  single  sword,  paled  at  the  sight  of  this  on- 
rushing  army.  He  took  up  a  stone  and  cast  it  into  the  faces 
of  the  charging  warriors.  It  struck  the  helmet  of  a  tall  war- 
rior, glanced  to  the  helmet  of  a  comrade,  and  finally  landed 
between  the  eyes  of  a  third. 

Each  of  the  men  thought  his  neighbor  had  struck  him. 


28  THE    CRISIS 

They  began  to  fight  among  themselves.  Confusion  spread,  and 
in  a  moment  they  were  hacking,  hewing  and  stabbing  at  one 
another,  lopping  off  arms,  legs  and  heads. 

In  a  brief  moment  the  whole  army  lay  upon  the  field, 
slaughtered  by  each  other.  The  last,  the  bravest  and  strongest 
of  them,  had  just  force  enough  before  dying  to  wave  his 
crimson  sword  above  his  head  and  to  shout:  "Victory!  Vic- 
tory !" 

Unhindered,  Jason  went  forward  to  take  the  Golden  Fleece. 

How  simply,  dramatically,  and  poetically,  these  old  Greeks 
tell  the  story  of  how  "great  men"  overcome  the  workers.  How 
truly  it  pictures  the  struggle  of  today. 

A  few  newspaper  stories  sent  from  Wall  Street  might  be 
enough  to  set  the  American  and  Japanese  workmen  at  each 
other's  throats. 

A  few  newspaper  lies  from  Lombard  Street  might  be 
enough  to  set  English  workmen  hacking  and  hewing  and  de- 
stroying German  workmen. 

Like  Jason 's  stone  is  a  word  from  Roosevelt,  Bryan,  Hearst, 
Belmont,  Ryan,  Morgan. 

Nothing  is  too  little  to  start  the  workers  fighting  among 
themselves.  The  slightest  triviality  divides  them  and  they  turn 
upon  each  other  to  slaughter  without  mercy. 

It  was  so  in  Greece,  in  Rome,  in  the  Middle  Ages ;  it  was 
so  in  the  French  Revolution ;  it  was  so  through  nearly  all  of 
last  century. 

In  1847  Karl  Marx  issued  a  mighty  call  to  the  hosts  of 
Labor,  "Proletarians  of  the  world,  unite.  You  have  nothing 
to  lose  but  your  chains.  You  have  the  world  to  gain."  Since 
then  millions  have  joined  together  in  trade  unions  and  co-oper- 
atives ;  millions  now  vote  together  politically. 

The  workers  of  America,  alone,  remain  divided,  in  politics, 
shouting:  "Guard  the  Golden  Fleece!"  and  at  the  same  time, 
as  democrats,  republicans  and  Hearstites,  lopping  off  each 
other's  arms  and  legs  and  heads. 


THE    CRISIS  29 

XV. 

Bryan  and  Roosevelt  and  Hearst  cannot  help  us;  where 
shall  we  turn? 

In  the  last  twenty-five  years  the  masses  have  asked  prac- 
tically the  same  question  in  every  country  of  the  world. 

There  is  only  one  answer. 

Turn  back  to  yourselves. 

If  the  people  cannot  run  a  democratic  party  they  cannot 
run  a  democratic  government. 

If  they  cannot  conduct  a  political  organization  without  the 
help  of  some  one  powerful  individual,  then  democracy  is  a 
failure. 

The  working  men  of  Western  Europe  are  finding  democ- 
racy a  success. 

They  have  their  own  parties,  separate  and  distinct  from  all 
other  organizations. 

They  have  stopped  looking  to  others  for  help,  and  have 
settled  down  to  hard  labor  themselves. 

Germany  today  has  a  Socialist  party  that  obtains  three 
million  votes,  and  over  500,000  men  control  that  party.  It  is 
the  same  in  France,  Italy,  Belgium,  Norway,  Sweden,  Finland ; 
wherever  one  goes. 

If  the  working  men  of  Europe  are  big  enough  to  own  and 
control  their  own  political  organization,  what  about  the  work- 
ing men  of  America? 

Let  Labor  stop  expecting  help  from  outside. 

If  it  wants  to  achieve  social  reform,  improvement  in  labor 
conditions,  the  abolition  of  capitalism,  the  destruction  of  pred- 
atory wealth ;  if  it  wants  to  curb  the  trusts,  let  it  join  its  own 
organization. 

Let  every  ward  and  precinct  of  this  country  have  its  group 
of  working  men. 

Let  them  go  to  the  polls  as  one  man. 

And  let  them  see  that  the  corporations  and  their  attorneys 
and  their  vote-catching  good  citizens,  and  their  silver-tongued 


30  THE    CRISIS 

orators,  are  kept  carefully  and  securely  out  of  the  organization. 

The  fight  in  this  country  is  between  the  people  and  the 
men  behind  Mr.  Bryan  and  Mr.  Roosevelt. 

It  is  not  between  the  men  behind  Mr.  Roosevelt  and  the 
men  behind  Mr.  Bryan. 

Those  behind  Bryan,  and  those  behind  Roosevelt,  are  strug- 
gling for  a  division  of  the  spoils. 

It  is  Labor,  divided  and  helpless,  that  is  being  despoiled. 


XVI. 

Let  me  recall  to  the  minds  of  trade  unionists  a  picture  of 
the  days  before  trade  unionism  was. 

The  workers  were  very  miserable.  When  their  condition 
became  intolerable  they  selected  a  comrade  to  go  to  the  em- 
ployer to  beg  for  better  conditions. 

The  embryo  trade  union  leader  told  the  employer  about 
the  misery  of  the  men,  and  that  poverty  would  drive  them  to 
revolt.  He  threatened  the  employer  that  the  men  might  unite ; 
might  even  strike. 

But  they  did  not  unite ;  and  they  did  not  strike.  And  the 
employers  grew  more  arrogant  and  oppressive. 

At  last  in  desperation  the  working  men  did  unite  and  did 
strike.    Not  until  then  did  the  employers  begin  to  make  terms. 

It  is  a  matter  of  history  what  untold  value  the  industrial 
strike  has  been  to  the  workers. 

The  employers  only  control  the  government. 

A  few  labor  leaders  go  to  them  and  tell  them  the  misery  of 
the  people;  and  tell  them  that  the  workers  might  unite  politi- 
cally and  strike  at  the  ballot  box. 

But  the  workers  do  not  unite,  and  they  do  not  strike.    The 


THE    CRISIS  31 

employers,  the  courts,  the  legislators,  grow  more  arrogant  and 
oppressive. 

The  trade  unionist  who  knows  history  will  tell  you  that 
begging  never  won  anything  for  labor. 

It  failed  on  the  industrial  field.  It  will  fail  on  the  political 
field.  Labor  begins  even  now  to  realize  it.  When  they  realize 
it  fully  we  shall  have  a  Socialist  party  that  will  make  even  the 
movements  of  Europe  look  small. 

We  are  on  the  eve  of  great  developments.  We  need  polit- 
ical leadership.  We  need  the  leadership  that  brought  into  ex- 
istence over  half  a  century  ago  the  independent  class  action  of 
trade  unionism,  and  that  gave  birth  to  the  industrial  strike. 

We  need  this  leadership  now  to  unite  the  entire  hosts  of 
labor  into  one  great  political  union  that  shall  give  birth  to  the 
political  strike. 


xvn. 

A  wise  old  philosopher,  Ben  Franklin,  said:  "If  you  want 
a  thing  done,  do  it  yourself.' ' 

There  are  a  good  many  jobs  at  the  present  moment  that 
Labor  wants  done. 

There  are  a  good  many  politicians — Bryan,  Hearst,  Roose- 
velt, and  others — who  say  they  will  do  them. 

They  do  not  know  what  Labor  wants,  and  they  could  not 
obtain  it  for  Labor  if  they  did. 

Labor  alone  knows  what  it  wants,  and  united  Labor  alone 
can  get  what  it  wants. 

In  Europe  it  is  now  getting  something  of  what  it  wants. 
The  workers  there  have  little  education;  they  have  been  op- 


32  THE    CRISIS 

pressed.  One  rarely  finds  a  workman  who  has  not  gone  into 
the  factories,  mills,  or  mines  before  the  age  of  ten  years.  And 
yet  there  is  not  a  parliament  in  Europe  that  does  not  have  from 
one  to  a  hundred  representatives  of  Labor  seeing  that  what  it 
wants  done  is  done. 

American  Labor  has  universal  suffrage.  It  has  in  its  hand 
the  greatest  weapon  of  modern  times. 

But  it  does  not  know  how  to  use  it. 

The  workers  of  Europe  long  since  stopped  sending  their 
employers  to  represent  them.  They  would  about  as  soon  think 
of  electing  an  employer  as  the  president  of  their  union,  or  his 
attorney  as  their  secretary. 

They  know  what  they  want.  They  are  determined  to  get 
what  they  want.    And  they  are  going  to  get  it  themselves. 

We  know  that  in  this  country  Labor  can  form  a  union. 

If  it  can  stand  together  and  starve  at  the  time  of  a  strike, 
it  can  stand  together  and  vote  at  the  time  of  an  election. 

But  this  means  work,    conscience,  will  power,  independ- 
ence and  united  action. 

Above  all,  it  means  that  if  Labor  wants  a  thing  done  it  must 
do  it  itself. 


^    OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 

SAUFOW& 


4 


A 


To  secure  to  each  laborer  the  whole  product  of  his  labor,  or  as  nearl/ 
as  possible,  is  a  worthy  object  of  any  good  government. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  most  notable  feature  of  a  disturbance  in  your  city  last  summer 
was  the  hanging  of  some  working  people  by  other  working  people.  It 
should  never  be  so.  The  strongest  bond  of  human  sympathy,  outside  of 
the  family  relation,  should  be  one  uniting  all  working  people,  of  all 
nations,  and  tongues,  and  kindreds. 

(Letter  to  the  Workingmen's  Association  of  New  York,  1864.) 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Be  careful  above  all,  in  all  your  deliberations  and  resolutions,  to 
maintain  among  the  different  factions  of  the  party  and  among  the  more 
or  less  extreme  or  moderate  tendencies  the  closest  possible  union,  and 
to  prevent  all  that  can  constitute  even  a  suspicion  of  division.  Naturally 
this  implies  that  it  is  necessary  to  commence  by  forgetting  the  divisions 
that  have  existed  in  the  past.  To  divide  you  in  order  the  better  to 
oppress  you,  such  is  the  tactic  of  your  enemies.  Flee  from  divisions; 
avoid  them;  crush  them  in  the  egg;  such  ought  to  be  your  tactic,  and 
to  that  end  may  your  program  remain  the  broadest  possible,  and  your 
title  remain  general  enough  to  shelter  all  who,  in  the  Belgian  proletariat, 
wish  to  work  for  the  emancipation,  intellectual  and  material,  political 
and  economic,  of  the  mass  of  the  disinherited. 

CESAR  DE  PAEPE. 
Father  of  the  Belgian  Labor  Party. 

Labor  speakers  and  Socialist  speakers  denounce  the  Republican 
party,  denounce  the  Democratic  party,  denounce  the  church,  denounce 
the  press,  denounce  this,  that  and  the  other  as  being  the  cause  of  the 
suffering  and  the  poverty  that  is  encountered  in  the  working-class  ranks. 

That's  an  evasion  of  the  real  cause,  my  comrades.  The  real  trouble 
is  not  the  church,  nor  the  press,  nor  the  Republican  party,  nor  the 
Democratic  party.  We've  got  to  find  the  trouble  nearer  home,  in  our 
own  ranks.  It  is  the  want  of  unity  within  our  own  ranks  that  makes 
oppression  possible,  and  nothing  else. 

J.  KEIR  HARDIE. 
Father  of  the  British  Labor  Party. 

Workingmen  of  the  world,  unite.  You  have  only  your  chains  to 
lose.     You  have  the  world  to  gaki. 

KARL  MARX, 
Father  of  Modern  Socialism. 


NOT  GUILTY: 

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A  BOOK  TO  SWEEP  THE  MENTAL 
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By  J.  HOWARD  MOORE. 

Instructor  in  Zoology.  Crane  Manual  Training 
High  School,  Chicago  111. 

Author  of  "The  Univereal  Kinship",  "Better  World  Philos- 
>>py",  "The  Whole  World  Kin",  etc. 

216  pages,  cloth  binding,  $1.00  postpaid. 

Economics  of  Socialism 

The  clearest  and  most  concise  exposition  of 
the  Marxian  Philosophy  ever  published. 

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"The  Historked  Basis  of  SocieUism",  "Socialism 

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